So, portable VR is here, and it is hitting hard. I've recently go into the Oculus Go and this is the perfect platform for portable VR gaming. The best of it is not the processin power or realistic controller... but the price tag. For 199$ it is rushing the market in all countries.

I got it here in Spain and I'm using it massively.

So, that said, my group usually play Artemis when we go for a relaxing weekend to a coutry house. We bring the projector, router, some lightning effects, and a mix of android tablets, flight sticks, and PCs to be able to play.

Now, Oculus Go is a hell of a machine on its own to play android games, and it is optimized to play games on VR amazingly well. It has a very good WIFI antennae and a great processor, which means that it could probably handle two instances of Artemis without problem.

So, it would be great to have a playable version on the Oculus Go (as it is now a always in piece on any travel). I didn't try sideloading Artemis yet, but it will probably do what it does with some other apps, drawing the screen in a 360º sphere making it unplayable.

I'm not asking for any fancy multimedia bridge simulator... just be able to play Artemis on the oculus Go (which are better than the tablet I use to play artemis in).

The main problem here is to be able to draw the 2D artemis interface in a 3D environment. And this is probably a BIG problem. But if solved, and with enough rendering and running power, maybe two instances can be played in different places having the main screen and additional station(s) available.

This feature is not really important but... Oculus Go (and other portable VR solutions) are hitting really hard, so they're something to thing about. Lets say "The first VR bridge simulator on portable devices? I'm in!" or something like that.

All right, I'm sure folks that are actually involved in the development of the game will post here to add their two cents' worth, but I suspect that I can anticipate their discussion points. While the success of Star Trek: Bridge Crew is a good thing, and I can say from experience that it is a LOT of fun to play, the main point of Artemis is that you don't HAVE to simulate a bridge environment. Artemis simulates the consoles, and you place them in your real-life "bridge". While there are those who play Artemis on-line, the game is designed around and draws inspiration from getting a group of people together in the same room to interact on their imaginary bridge.

In some cases, with the custom bridges, that imagination works its way into the real world, and you can have an even better experience than virtual reality. So while VR is a good addition to the bridge simulator concept, as ST: BC proves, it will only get in the way of the primary Artemis experience of location based entertainment.

However, and this is a pretty big however, I can see AUGMENTED reality adding on a great deal to the current Artemis experience. With the ability to project your console, even if it's just a flat rectangular panel, onto a desk or table, you can turn an ordinary room into an artificial custom bridge. Add thematically appropriate walls and special effects, let it detect and track the viewscreen and your real-life crewmates, and you can have a partially virtual bridge without having to be a set builder and DMX expert.

Since the biggest limitation of mobile based VR is the limited tracking, resolution and processing power, augmented reality would make for a more realistic experience, and the server and viewscreen can be passed off to a PC. The VR would be only responsible for rendering and operating consoles, plus potentially giving the player a chance to "look outside" at a third person view. They can communicate with each other and the server across the network.

Unfortunately, since the mobile version of Artemis lags behind the PC version, that's a big problem in attempting any AR or VR additions to the port. There really isn't the manpower to put into it. I think it would be a good idea, though, and maybe something can be done by a third party programmer with ArtClientLib/now IAH.

I never played artemis on the internet and I'm not willing to do it, becouse more than half of the fun is about sticking toguether in the same room doing crazy stuff... My point is that Oculus go is a piece of hardware that runs android games by far much better than my tablet or cellphone, in an screen much "bigger" than my PC (with more resolution actually).

Oculus Go is now secure travel companion for me and I'm keeping it on my side when I go with friends to play.

I'm not willing to turn Artemis into an online game, that's not the point, but there are players that can TOTALLY use the VR device in the same room as the rest with great results. Captain, science or engineering? Impossible! but invision the fighter pilots using VR (drone piloting) devices. So Scifi and so delicius it can't be mistreated.

We tryed some times multiple single player scout ships, and it worked great and fun (fleet of drones) but that was before fighters.

And there are awesome things you can do in Portable VR, like piloting the fighter with the head! which could be visually awesome and hilarius (for the rest of the players) at the same time.

Good thing is that once you can play artemis inside a VR space (just rendering 2D screen inside a 3D box), yo win the VR War! Let the fan base create 3D environments for the drone pilot bridge or whatever they can imagine! But don't understimate a new kind of Android gaming console which is perfect for playing.

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